Sharp declines in the numbers of immigrants attempting to enter the U.S. means Border Patrol agents can throw their efforts more fully into their enforcement role, says the agency’s chief patrol agent here.

Mauricio Guerra, a Del Rio High School junior and an Airman First Class in the TX-66 Air Force Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps unit, earned a private pilot’s license and college credit hours after graduating from a summer flight academy.

Motivational speaker Danny Vuong-Batimana, a youth speaker and happiness creator of Newport Beach, Calif., visited with Del Rio Middle School students on Thursday. His dance-inspired presentation and message of “Happiness is Now” captivated the students.

Open your wallet right now. What cards do you find? Most folks have a driver’s license, right? Then there are the military ID, school ID, work ID cards. You probably have multiple insurance cards – health, auto, life, home, Medicare. How about a debit card or some other bank card – maybe even a credit card? I hope you have a voter registration card, too.

Dignitaries from United States of America and Mexico celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Amistad Dam. The ceremony was held on Amistad Dam on Thursday, celebrating the dedication of the dam on Sept. 8, 1969.

Jordan Blumetti, associate editor and writer for “American Way” magazine, spent several days here last week and said he has only started to scratch the surface of everything Val Verde County and Del Rio have to offer.

The Daughters of the American Revolution Uvalde de las Encinas Chapter will be celebrating Constitution Week next week. The celebration is a national initiative to promote and encourage the study of the historical events that led to the framing of the Constitution, and to defend and preserve the Constitution.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection honored service members and recognized the lives lost 18 years ago during the attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and in a field outside of Shanksville, Penn., during a commemoration ceremony at the Del Rio port of entry on Wednesday.

Its construction created a prime fishing, boating and sailing destination, a national park with great walking trails and hunting areas, and a water reservoir that has been utilized for consumption and irrigation purposes, but most importantly, the construction of Amistad Dam created a manmade barrier to control the potentially deadly waters of the Rio Grande River. This week, Amistad Dam just turned 50 years old.

Hurricane Alice, recorded by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration as “one for the record books” due to its unprecedented flooding along parts of Texas, prompted U.S. and Mexican officials to accelerate the construction of Amistad Dam, a massive concrete and steel structure sitting on the Rio Grande River, between the cities of Del Rio, Texas and Ciudad Acuña, Mexico. The dam was inaugurated on Sept. 8, 1960.

Small schools and rural communities are critical to Texas’ success, and anything negatively impacting small schools or the communities they support hurts us all. Our world is changing rapidly, but the need for rural communities and small schools still exists.

Our war games national defense is revised to counter China/Russia aggression. The U.S. Navy has deployed its new ship killer missiles in China’s backyard. The best way to confront a bully is to prepare for battle, preventing war.

Eighteen years ago, three different sites in the northeast United States were attacked by terrorists. The attacks, which would forever change our way of life, were also an inspiration for some that would go on to become or continue to be first responders. Read some of their stories today in our special section in the print edition of the News-Herald.

San Felipe Del Rio Consolidated Independent School District Police Department received notice of a grant award from the Office of the Governor, Public Safety Office Criminal Justice Division. The grant will allow the police department to upgrade the technology infrastructure.

The husband-and-wife optometry team of Dr. Anjli Patel and Dr. Hiten Patel have joined the staff of Galo Eye Care Centers in Del Rio and Uvalde and are ready to help patients in the area with all of their eye care needs.

When we think of muscles, we think of Popeye, not twiggy Olive Oyl. But building and maintaining muscle mass is even more important for women. We all normally lose some muscle each year as we age. Aerobic exercise, yoga and dance help to increase strength, but they don’t challenge the muscles enough to fight this natural muscle loss.

Over the weekend, I had a really wonderful experience: meeting and spending some time with a fellow professional writer, Jordan Blumetti, associate editor of American Way magazine, the in-flight magazine of American Airlines.

The Fourth Court of Appeals in San Antonio recently affirmed a 10-year sentence to a man who was tried in Del Rio for retaliation against a public servant, after repeatedly threatening to kill a police officer.

A woman was arrested and charged with the possession of a controlled substance on Sept. 3. at approximately 3 a.m. Ashely Nicole Fuentes, 25, a resident of the 1000 block of East Rodriguez Street, was arrested by Del Rio Police Department officers, records show.

Andrew James Baldonado, a 23-year-old resident of the 300 block of McLymont Street, was arrested following an incident occurring on Sept. 1, at 1:10 p.m. He was charged with the possession of a controlled substance, according to police records.

A Del Rio man and a woman were recently arrested and charged with theft, after a citizen reported a vehicle leaving a store at Plaza del Sol Mall. The caller followed the vehicle as it was traveling west, in north Del Rio, police records state.

Trump’s grease crayon fiasco over Hurricane Dorian’s destructive path had a disconcerting similarity to Sesame Street’s “The Great Cookie Thief” story read to my pre-Kindergarten son in 1979, https://is.gd/W48e1e. His level of crazy thought it prudent to contradict Weather Service experts warning millions in the way, although creating unnecessary fear for Alabamans.

It is interesting to note that Hong Kong which finds itself in the throes of further impingement by the government of Communist China of overturning some vestiges of its former sovereignty, finds itself rallying in public protest utilizing the signs and symbols of the United States of America.

The Whitehead Memorial Museum will open its doors free of charge to all Museum Day ticket holders on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2019 as part of Smithsonian magazine’s 15th annual Museum Day, a national celebration of boundless curiosity in which participating museums emulate the free admission policy at the Smithsonian Institution’s Washington D.C.-based museums.